Makeshift studios spring up at teachers homes

Hyderabad: The online classes initiated by many schools and institutions has resulted in teachers experimenting creative ways to teach and connect with their students. As part of this the teachers are refurbishing their houses so that students find the online classrooms interesting and attentive.

"In a crisis like pandemic, teaching online has become a priority for many institutions. Teaching online is a challenging task, though it has been made simple with the help of technology. For online teaching I use Google classroom and zoom applications. They have all the essential teaching aids for which all we need is high speed internet connection and sufficient data plan," said Srujana, English teacher and language trainer.

" I have transformed one of my bedrooms into a mini classroom and have adjusted a white board on chairs, I place my laptop on the bed I keep the white board on equal height for better visibility. Though it takes time to organise everything, it gives pleasure to connect with students and now it has become habituated as I have been teaching online for the past two months.

We are now connecting to students not only through online classes but also by trending social media, we feel as if we are in the same room and that's the magic of online education," she added.

"I teach my students online for five hours every day, I use Google meet, Zoom calls or WhatsApp video calling for teaching online classes. I have put two chairs together in the hall and placed a white board on it and I adjust my phone on the table exactly opposite to the board," said K Vishwanatha Kutumba, Sanskrit Teacher, Narayana School and Colleges, SR Nagar.

"Earlier, I didn't know how to use social media platforms, now I have started using social sites like Instagram and WhatsApp as my students requested me to create them, as soon as I have created my accounts all my students started sending me friend requests, now I am able to know their family, friends and lifestyle," he added.

Not only sticking to the same routine of teaching on white board is boring, teachers of science and social studies subjects are exploring their kitchens and gardens to explain the students practically.

To teach the difference between solid, liquid and gases is easy from home says one of the science teachers in Hyderabad. "I focused my camera towards refrigerator in my kitchen while teaching that lesson.

I have practically shown them ice as solid form water and after melting I showed the liquid form, then the gaseous state by boiling water after seing this the children were very excited to see my kitchen and they paid extreme attention to my class on that particular day, from then the number of students attending my class has been steadily increasing and has become more lively," said K Swapna, Science Teacher, Sri Chaitanya High School.

"After that class, i am experimenting to take classes in different locations of my house like so far, i have conducted classes in lawn, hall, study room, kitchen and trying to explore more avenues," she added.

However, though the lifestyle has been changing, the affection between teachers and students is alive in the form of online classes, say teachers.